The disclosures herein relate generally to information handling systems and more particularly to a system and method for maintaining a boot order in an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system typically boots using a boot device according to a boot order stored in the system. A boot device may be any device in the system that includes or is coupled to software or other means to cause an operating system of the system to be booted and/or loaded in response to the system being powered up, e.g. being turned on, or reset. The boot order includes a list of boot devices which the system attempts to boot from in response to the system being powered up or reset. If the system does not boot successfully using the first boot device in the list, then the system attempts to boot from the next boot device in the list. The process repeats until either the system boots successfully or the system fails to boot from any of the boot devices on the list.
The boot order may be selected by a user of the information handling system. The user may select the boot order according to a particular use or configuration of the system. Unfortunately, certain events can cause the boot order selected by the user to be altered contrary to the desire of the user. For example, the removal or addition of a device to the system may cause the boot order to be reset to a default boot order specified by a basic input output system (BIOS) or other system firmware, particularly where the BIOS or firmware conforms to a version of the BIOS Boot Specification. The BIOS Boot Specification is available from Phoenix Technologies, Ltd., 411 E. Plumeria Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95134, (800) 677-7305, http://www. phoenix.com/PlatSS/PDFs/specs-bbs 101. pdf, and is incorporated by reference herein.
It would be desirable to ensure that an information handling system boots using a boot order selected by a user. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for maintaining a boot order in an information handling system.